No Fear: Ernie Irvan: The NASCAR Driver's Story of Tragedy and Triumph

The book No Fear was a book of one mans struggle up through the ranks of racing, and how it all could have ended in a heart beat. This book first takes place at Michigan speedway. Ernie Irvan is a racer on top of his game, a professional at what he does. They are out doing practice laps the day before the race at Michigan, trying to get the setup right. Larry, Ernie's crew chief, told Ernie to take only 10 laps and then come in, and Ernie, being Ernie, is going to take 11, whether Larry likes it or not. On the eleventh lap in turn three, Ernie blows a tire and hits the wall nose first at 190 mph. Even with all of the restraints and safety they have, hitting a wall at 190 mph and coming to a dead stop, will screw you up because momentum continues with your intestines. The doctors predicted that Ernie would not make it through the night on life support. After months of rehabilitation and having the "never give up attitude" that he had, he was able to continue racing, even though no one thought he would be the same after the accident. It took a long time to get to where he was, coming from a low class family with barley enough money to race, let alone utilities, but Ernie was determined to do his best and become a racer. Even after his father walking out, and watching his best friend die in a race, he never gave up. His favorite saying was "When times get tough, the tough get going," and he did believe in that saying because no matter what he just kept going! This booked was a very well put together story of Ernie's life. It showed all of the hardships he had to go through, the ups and the downs. It really made clear how much he had to struggle to make it to where he was, and how he almost lost it all in the blink of an eye. The book had some choppiness to how the races were put together, like how it would only explain some and not even mention others and then bring them up later, was a little difficult to comprehend. However, how he talked about his incident first to get the readers attention and to bring them into his childhood was an excellent way to start the book. It was a very good representation of how NASCAR was coming up through the years, just like Ernie and how he was struggling with his career. I thought this book was a very interesting and excellent way to show how his life went and the struggles he had to go through. It will keep you interested through the whole book, and it has very encouraging words in it. It will show you all of the things he went through, and you should be able to see what it is like to have to go through it to try to get to your goals. Even when it seems like you can't and the people around you think you won't be able to, to keep on trying, never give up, and have No Fear!

Ernie explained everything that I had ever wanted to know in this book. I always knew that there was so much more to the Texaco story. It's an inside look at his life. I watched him in his career and always wanted to know more. This is more.

Very good book,hard to put down once you start reading it,even though there are a few mistakes through it. A must read for any racing fan.

As an avid race fan, I was immediately hooked from the first page and in fact, read the entire book in one evening. I was particularly pleased that it was written in easy to understand, everyday language, thereby making it a book, many people of all education levels would enjoy. The recovery of the driver was a miracle and his recovery remarkable. I enjoyed reading of the business conflicts because too many of us envision the drivers as living a life of Utopia. I was glad to hear that even Nascar drivers worry about house payments. I was too busy reading to care about misspelled words.

A well written book that I could not put down. From Ernies days at Stockton up to the present. Reading the parts about the accident at Michigan and what he and his wife Kim went through to return to racing, brought tears to my eyes. Not just reading for Ernie fans but for NASCAR fans everywhere. 5 Stars +